Continued Learning During Covid-19 (and beyond!)

As we continue our planning for the 2021-2022 school year that will begin in September, we are in the midst of significant covid lockdowns all throughout Vietnam. Our staff is self-quarantined in their homes, children are quarantined in the orphanages, and the typically busy streets are much more quiet as everyone is at home to try and limit coronavirus that is rapidly spreading throughout the local population. We have come to realize that the newest wave of covid in Vietnam will require us to enter the new school year in an entirely virtual environment - relying on the virtual systems we set-up in 2020 when covid first began.

While we had hoped and been anticipating that we were through the worst of covid and would be starting the new school year in the classrooms with our students, the virtual environment will provide us with a continued opportunity to adapt our programming for a virtual environment, while aiming to maintain the quality, engagment, and student-centered approach that is core to the Kidspire program in Vietnam.

Whatever the environment, rest assured that our team remains committed to doing everything we can to support our students and help them to continue in the learning - as they take steps towards their futures beyond the orphanage.

As always, thank YOU for your kindness and generosity in support our team and our students!

April 19 was an exciting day at Kidspire. For 3 months our teachers have been supporting our students to submit their Technovation Global Challenge projects - a project where the students identify a local community need, brainstorm a solution, code an app that contributes towards the solution, and then pitch their idea and app via video. It's an incredible project that provides students with the opportunity to gain so many skills in experiences, including project management, time management, communication, and collaboration, among others.

But how would we provide the students with the mentors they needed to complete the project when orphanages were on lockdown from receiving visitors? Enter our virtual learning environment - something Kidspire has been really been working to improve and expand during the past 15 months where our normal program has been affected by our new covid-19 environment.

I invite you to check out the attached photos. I think they showcase how we used video calls to connect our students with mentors who could coach them through tips and tricks on coding their app, or refining their pitch, or narrowing their solution.

And I want to extend a big thank you to all of you. Your support has made it possible for Kidspire to improve our program in some very specific - and important - ways during this past year. And these improvements have allowed us to continue supporting our students throughout what has been a challenging year. This is something that is really important to us. Thank you!